{"id":49300,"date":"2024-11-12T22:09:20","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T21:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/d390dc76-f592-4c83-8232-ee8ed741b34f"},"modified":"2024-11-12T23:08:30","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T22:08:30","slug":"weirdest-works-classical-musics-15-most-strange-and-surprising-creations","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/weirdest-works-classical-musics-15-most-strange-and-surprising-creations\/","title":{"rendered":"Weirdest works: classical music’s 15 most strange and surprising creations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 12 November 2024 at 21:09 PM<\/p>

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John Cage<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s famous 4\u201933\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/strong> consists of 273 seconds in which no one does anything at all, yet it has enjoyed cult status since its \u2018composition\u2019 in 1952. Today, it can be downloaded on iTunes<\/a><\/strong>, watched on Youtube and there is even a 4\u201933\u201d<\/em> app<\/a><\/strong> (where you create your own performance of the work and share it with the world).<\/p>

Many listeners view 4’33”<\/em> with wry amusement, others value it as an important exercise in making us re-think the very concept of music. Whatever, it will always hold a proud place in the list of the strangest music ever written.<\/p>

<\/div> <\/figure> <p>Cage, of course, was writing in a notably experimental era that produced all sorts of wonderful weirdness, but the boundaries of musical convention have always been there to be tested \u2013 composers had been doing daft things for centuries before Cage and co. arrived on the scene. Here, we take a look at 15 pieces of the weirdest music, from the engagingly amusing to the downright barmy\u2026<\/p> <h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-are-the-weirdest-pieces-of-classical-music\">What are the weirdest pieces of classical music?<\/h2> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-heinrich-ignaz-franz-biber-battalia\"><strong>1. Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber: <em>Battalia<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p>We begin our survey of all things eccentric in the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/baroque-music-guide\">Baroque<\/a><\/strong> period. Usually a composer of utmost craft and refinement, Heinrich Biber (1644-1744) went off on something of a tangent with his 1673 <em>Battalia<\/em> for string orchestra. Depicting life in an army camp, effects galore are employed by the composer to paint the musical picture just as he wanted it.<\/p> <p>For instance, the section called \u2018Die liederliche Gesellschaft von allerley Humor\u2019 has the orchestra playing in eight different keys simultaneously to depict drunkenness, while \u2018Mars\u2019 sees the double bass stick a piece of paper beneath the strings to create a rasping sound. It\u2019s an entertaining listen, though quite what Biber\u2019s own audiences would have made of it is anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/composer-deaths\">Deadly serious: the bizarre and tragic deaths of 10 famous composers<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Biber's Battalia, performed by New York Baroque Incorporated\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_8YN26FOTGU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-johann-georg-albrechtsberger-concerto-for-jew-s-harp\"><strong>2. Johann Georg Albrechtsberger: Concerto for Jew’s Harp<\/strong><\/h3> <p>Nothing much to remark at first about the 1765 Concerto in F major by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, esteemed Viennese composer, scholar and teacher of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/ludwig-van-beethoven\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Beethoven<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 a pleasant, if unexceptional orchestral opening is adorned with gentle pluckings on the mandora (a type of lute). But then comes the entry of the other solo instrument.<\/p> <p>It\u2019s a jew\u2019s harp: basically, a metal spring that one places in front of the mouth and twangs. In the hands of an able player, it can just about be made to produce something vaguely resembling a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-a-melody\">melody<\/a><\/strong>, but no amount of skill, alas, can give it a sound other than \u2018boinnnnggggg\u2019.<\/p> <p>The overall effect? Think of a contented frog leaping from lily to lily, accompanied by a string orchestra. Remarkably, Albrechtsberger wrote not just the one but seven such <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-concerto\">concertos<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4-gyorgy-ligeti-poeme-symphonique\"><strong>3. Gy\u00f6rgy Ligeti: <em>Po\u00e8me Symphonique<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p>Who needs instruments? Not <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/gyorgy-ligeti\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gy\u00f6rgy Ligeti<\/a><\/strong>. The Hungarian\u2019s <em>Po\u00e8me Symphonique<\/em> of 1962 \u2013 which, incidentally, was performed in the same concert as Cage\u2019s <em>4\u201933\u201d<\/em> at the 2014 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/bbc-proms\/\">BBC Proms<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 simply requires ten players to take to the stage, each in charge of ten wind-up <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/who-invented-the-metronome\">metronomes<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p> <p>All 100 metronomes are wound to their limit, and then set off and allowed to tick away until they have all wound themselves down. In theory, one could also try it out with battery-powered metronomes, though this might mean a performance going on for hours and hours and hours. Talking of which\u2026<\/p> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"100 metronomu \/ Ligeti\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V-PzHmizpDc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-kaikhosru-shapurji-sorabji-organ-symphony-no-2\"><strong>4. Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji: Organ Symphony No. 2<\/strong><\/h3> <p>The <em>BBC Music Magazine<\/em> team is proud to boast at least three <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/when-was-the-organ-invented\">organ<\/a><\/strong> enthusiasts in its number \u2013 or \u2018organ bores\u2019 as the unenlightened sometimes like to jest \u2013 but even we think we might draw the line at sitting through the entirety of the Second Organ Symphony by <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kaikhosru_Shapurji_Sorabji\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji<\/a><\/strong> (1892-1988).<\/p> <p>Completed by the English composer in 1932, this work for solo organ lasts a mighty nine hours. Yes, nine. Perhaps not surprisingly, it\u2019s never really caught on. At time of writing, it has yet to be recorded or broadcast, and has enjoyed just nine performances, all at the supremely talented (and, clearly, indefatigable) hands and feet of Kevin Bowyer. No record is made of how many attended those performances\u2026 or, more to the point, how many were still there at the finish.<\/p> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-leopold-mozart-toy-symphony\"><strong>5. Leopold Mozart: Toy Symphony<\/strong><\/h3> <p>History popularly depicts Leopold Mozart, father of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/mozart\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wolfgang Amadeus<\/a><\/strong>, as something of a po-faced old moose, obsessed by <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/musical-prodigies\">eking every last drop out of his son\u2019s prodigious talent<\/a><\/strong>. His <em>Toy<\/em> <em>Symphony<\/em> of around 1760, however, hints at a fun-loving side.<\/p> <p>As well as the normal orchestral forces, this idiosyncratic <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/symphony\">symphony<\/a><\/strong> features parts for toy trumpet, ratchet (essentially a football rattle), cuckoo and nightingale (not the birds, clearly, but toy instruments that sound like them\u2026). It\u2019s all a bit of a hoot, and rather charming \u2013 so is that why it was initially credited not to Mozart Snr but to the more genial <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/joseph-haydn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Haydn<\/a><\/strong>?<\/p> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Leopold Mozart - Toy Symphony, G-major\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A3BPROHYQIk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-more-weirdest-classical-music-the-20-hour-piece-the-hate-letter-and-the-cat-duet\">More weirdest classical music – the 20-hour piece, the hate letter and the cat duet<\/h2> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-8-gioachino-rossini-cat-duet\"><strong>6. Gioachino Rossini: <em>Cat Duet<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p>On to lighter matters, in the form of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/gioachino-rossini\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rossini<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s <em>Cat Duet<\/em>, a piece that makes <em>Carl Nielsen \u2013 vor store komponist<\/em> seem positively verbose. Composed to poke fun at warring divas, the <em>Cat Duet<\/em> features just one word: \u2018Miaow\u2019, repeated <em>ad nauseam<\/em> by two sopranos as a pianist trundles jauntily along underneath. It was probably hilarious back in the 1820s. Tradition dictates that after the concert, the two singers are presented with a saucer of milk and put outside for the night.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/four-best-rossini-recordings\/\">Four of the best Rossini recordings<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/live-music\/watch-cat-duets-with-beethoven-at-the-istanbul-music-festival\">Watch: Cat duets with Beethoven at music festival<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hilarious Cat Duet Showdown by 2 Black Opera Singers | 1.7M Views| Creative Self-Expression\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/O5bJJviAX0c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-6-eric-satie-vexations\"><strong>7. Erik Satie: <em>Vexations<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p>Nine hours? Pah. Child\u2019s play. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/erik-satie\/\">Erik Satie<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s <em>Vexations<\/em> of 1893 lasts well over twice that length. Not that there is the greatest variety of material within those 20-something hours, mind, as it\u2019s essentially the same short piece repeated 840 times.<\/p> <p>The umbrella-wielding, suit-wearing Parisian, whose lifestyle was as quirky as they come, didn\u2019t specify on which instrument the work should be played, though he did include at the top the following enigmatic advice: \u2018In order to play this motif 840 times, one would have to prepare oneself in advance, and in the utmost silence, through serious immobilities.\u2019 He might have added, \u2018and don\u2019t forget to go to the loo\u2026\u2019<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/why-was-erik-satie-sentenced-to-eight-days-in-jail\/\">Why was Erik Satie sentenced to eight days in jail?<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/six-best-satie-works\/\">Six of the best: Satie works<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Erik Satie ~1893~ Vexations\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sKKxt4KacRo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-7-rued-langgard-carl-nielsen-vor-store-komponist\"><strong>8. Rued Langgard: <em>Carl Nielsen – vor store komponist<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p>Quite how long a rendition of Rued Langgaard\u2019s <em>Carl Nielsen \u2013 vor store komponist<\/em> (<em>Carl Nielsen \u2013 our great composer<\/em>) lasts is largely up to the conductor, as following the composer\u2019s own instructions would, quite frankly, be impossible. Langgaard insisted that his 32-bar choral work should be \u2018repeated for all eternity\u2019. Helpful, that.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/reviews\/opera\/langgaard-antikrist\"><strong>Review: Rued Langgaard – <em>Antikrist<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/li> <\/ul> <p>Given that this 1948 anthem\u2019s words consist solely of the title itself, one might be forgiven for presuming that here was one composer\u2019s heartfelt tribute to the brilliance of another. In fact, it\u2019s quite the opposite. Langgaard was one bitterly sarcastic Dane, irked that, even 16 years after <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/carl-nielsen\">Carl Nielsen<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s death, his compatriot should continue to dominate their country\u2019s musical scene. To say that we’re dealing with one of classical music’s great rivalries is not quite accurate, as the envy and dislike was all one one side.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/composer-rivalries\">\u2018His music is just meaningless noise’: classical music’s 15 juiciest rivalries<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <p>Any performance should, ideally, be accompanied by the sound of gnashing teeth and wringing hands.<\/p> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Rued Langgaard: Carl Nielsen, vor store Komponist (1948)\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ASBXuz1zvRg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-9-luigi-russolo-gran-concerto-futuristico\"><strong>9. Luigi Russolo: <em>Gran Concerto Futuristico<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p>Nearly a century after Rossini was charming audiences with the <em>Cat Duet<\/em>, his fellow Italian Luigi Russolo was having the opposite effect with his <em>Gran Concerto Futuristico<\/em>. Russolo dispensed with traditional instruments, creating instead his various <em>intonarumori<\/em> (sound boxes), which produced a range of noises when operated by a handle \u2013 the \u2018howler\u2019 and the \u2018exploder\u2019 are just two examples.<\/p> <p>Russolo suspected that the concert-going public might not be quite ready for his musical vision. He was right. When he and his <em>intonarumori<\/em> performed the <em>Gran Concerto<\/em> in Milan in 1914, the audience rioted.<\/p> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Luigi Russolo: Serenata per intonarumori e strumenti\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8GpN5FHO60c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-more-weirdest-classical-music-helicopters-the-end-of-the-world-and-a-sonata-for-nose\">More weirdest classical music: helicopters, the end of the world, and a sonata for nose<\/h2> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-10-john-dowland-my-lord-chamberlain-his-galliard\"><strong>10. John Dowland: <em>My Lord Chamberlain, His Galliard<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p>\u2018Always miserable\u2019 Dowland? Don\u2019t believe the nickname. The Tudor master of lute and voice most definitely had a twinkle in his eye. Take, for instance, his <em>My Lord Chamberlain, His Galliard<\/em>. Published in Dowland\u2019s <em>First Booke of Songs or Ayres<\/em> in 1597, <em>My Lord Chamberlain<\/em> is a duet for two lutenists\u2026 but just the one lute. The idea is that one player sits on the other\u2019s lap, necessitating a cosy embrace if both are to comfortably reach the strings. Hee hee. The old rogue.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/four-best-john-dowland-recordings\/\">Four of the best John Dowland recordings<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Dowland - "My Lord Chamberlain, His Galliard"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KBW1-Kectio?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-11-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart-a-musical-joke\"><strong>11. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: A Musical Joke<\/strong><\/h3> <p>A cheeky sense of humour, too, from Mozart (Jnr) in the form of a piece he wrote for Haydn. History has it that the two once had a bet for a case of champagne, in which\u00a0Haydn, confident in his virtuosity on the keyboard, reckoned he could play absolutely anything that his brilliant pupil chose to write for him.\u00a0<\/p> <p>Mozart rose to the challenge with a piece that required the right hand to be playing at one end of the keyboard, the left hand at the other\u2026 and then a note to sound slap-bang in the middle. How to play it? By simply leaning forward and pressing the key with one\u2019s nose. The work has since been lost and the tale itself may well be apocryphal, but is worth repeating anyway.<\/p> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-13-la-monte-young-piano-piece-for-terry-riley\"><strong>12. La Monte Young: <em>Piano Piece for Terry Riley<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p>No list of this type would be complete without La Monte Young, king of the eccentrics and composer of snappily-titled opuses such as (deep breath) <em>The Tortoise Recalling the Drone of the Holy Numbers as they were Revealed in the Dreams of the Whirlwind and the Obsidian Gong, Illuminated by the Sawmill, the Green Sawtooth Ocelot and the High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer<\/em>. But even within the Dictionary of Dotty that is Young\u2019s compositional catalogue, <em>Piano Piece for Terry Riley<\/em> stands out.<\/p> <p>The instructions for it read as follows: \u2018Push the piano up to a wall and put the flat side up against it. Then continue pushing into the wall. Push as hard as you can. If the piano goes through the wall, keep pushing in the same direction regardless of new obstacles and continue to push as hard as you can whether the piano is stopped against an obstacle or moving.<\/p> <p>‘The piece is over when you are too exhausted to push any longer.\u2019 Young wrote these instructions at 2.10am on 8 November, 1960. Two in the morning? Righty-ho. We\u2019ll say no more.<\/p> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Young: Piano Piece #1 for Terry Riley\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ODOKi6oY7Fs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-14-karlheinz-stockhausen-helicopter-quartet\"><strong>13. Karlheinz Stockhausen: <em>Helicopter Quartet<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p>Take a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/string-quartet\">string quartet<\/a><\/strong>. Give each member in a helicopter to fly in. Send all four helicopters skywards, with players bowing away furiously inside and shouting occasionally. Relay sound to audience via radio link and a bank of speakers. Bingo. You have the \u2018Helicopter Quartet\u2019 from <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/stockhausen-5\">Karlheinz Stockhausen<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s <em>Licht<\/em> cycle of operas. It was written in 1993. However (if you\u2019ll forgive the pun), it has never really taken off.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/six-best-works-stockhausen\/\">Six of the best: works by Stockhausen<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Helikopter-Streichquartett (Helicopter Quartet) - Karlheinz Stockhausen\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7ykQFrL0X74?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-15-alexander-scriabin-mysterium\"><strong>14. Alexander Scriabin: <em>Mysterium<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p>The demands of the \u2018Helicopter Quartet\u2019 are relatively workaday compared to Alexander <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/alexander-scriabin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Scriabin<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s extraordinary <em>Mysterium<\/em>, surely the daftest of all daft works. In terms of performers, the Russian wanted his potential masterpiece to feature \u2018an orchestra, a large mixed choir, an instrument with visual effects, dancers, a procession, incense, and rhythmic textural articulation.\u2019<\/p> <h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Giant bells suspended from the clouds would summon people from across the globe<\/h6> <p>So far, so manageable. But then Scriabin stipulated that a special temple should be built for the event\u2026 in the foothills of the Himalayas. And there\u2019s more. Giant bells suspended from the clouds would summon people from across the globe to the site of the performance, which would last a full seven days.<\/p> <p>And, at the end of it, the end of the world would come, with humans being replaced by \u2018nobler beings\u2019. Cripes. Scriabin began work on <em>Mysterium <\/em>in 1903, but was still some way off completing it by his death in 1915. This is possibly a good thing.<\/p> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mysterium: Prefatory Act (Scriabin) 1 of 5\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mSWuUuySFyU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <\/figure> <h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Weirdest music: and last but not least…<\/h2> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-12-lord-berners-funeral-march-for-a-rich-aunt\"><strong>15. Lord Berners: <em>Funeral March for a Rich Aunt<\/em><\/strong><\/h3> <p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/lord-berners-2\">Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners<\/a><\/strong> (1883-1950) was a man of many hobbies, one of which was to catch pigeons and dye them in assorted fetching hues. And the Englishman\u2019s music could be every bit as colourful as those poor birds. Example? His <em>Funeral March for a Rich Aunt<\/em> from 1914, a work with nothing remotely funereal about it.<\/p> <p>In fact, it positively skips along, giggling and guffawing on its way \u2013 you can almost hear the composer counting up his inheritance with glee in every semi-quaver run and light-fingered leap across the keyboard. The march, incidentally, is the third of a set of three for piano, the second of which is \u2018For a Canary\u2019. You get the idea.<\/p> <p><em>Illustration: <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/davidlyttleton.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Lyttleton<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Published: Tuesday, 12 November 2024 at 21:09 PM John Cage\u2019s famous 4\u201933\u201d consists of 273 seconds in which no one does anything at all, yet it has enjoyed cult status since its \u2018composition\u2019 in 1952. Today, it can be downloaded on iTunes, watched on Youtube and there is even a 4\u201933\u201d app (where you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":49301,"template":"","categories":[1,17],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"10"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/11\/weirdest-works-classical-musics-15-most-strange-and-surprising-creations.png",962,640,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/11\/weirdest-works-classical-musics-15-most-strange-and-surprising-creations-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/11\/weirdest-works-classical-musics-15-most-strange-and-surprising-creations-300x200.png",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/11\/weirdest-works-classical-musics-15-most-strange-and-surprising-creations-768x511.png",768,511,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/11\/weirdest-works-classical-musics-15-most-strange-and-surprising-creations.png",800,532,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/11\/weirdest-works-classical-musics-15-most-strange-and-surprising-creations.png",962,640,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/11\/weirdest-works-classical-musics-15-most-strange-and-surprising-creations.png",962,640,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Published: Tuesday, 12 November 2024 at 21:09 PM John Cage\u2019s famous 4\u201933\u201d consists of 273 seconds in which no one does anything at all, yet it has enjoyed cult status since its \u2018composition\u2019 in 1952. Today, it can be downloaded on iTunes, watched on Youtube and there is even a 4\u201933\u201d app (where you…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/49300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}